So this is the Fridge entry of Roommates.
Fridge Brilliance
- When you realize that the build up for the Dark!Jareth arc (2011 summer) probably begins around this strip
two years earlier. O.O.C. Is Serious Business indeed. Defy your story enough and you will reap the backlash sooner or later.- Or even earlier. This is one of the first strips and it has Norrington explaining to everyone why they'll never fully manage a Heel–Face Turn—because "audiences don't want to see you redeemed, living a normal life...you could spend years making amends and it still wouldn't get half as much attention as a five-minute death scene." That was the 11th comic.
- Or even earlier. This
- While it makes sense that Erik would be attracted to opera singer Mag, I realized why else it made sense. Christine was first played by Sarah Brightman in the musical. Guess who played Mag? That's right, Brightman!
- Jareth's realm in the Fey world being The Unwanted. Not only because children are wished away to him canonically, but look at where he's currents living and with whom—just about all of the recurring cast have probably been/felt unwanted in their canon at some point. It also explains his potential power—it's not always going to be summer or winter, but there are always unwanted people in the world.
- It also makes sense given the Kid!Jareth arc and what we see of his childhood.
- Some people commented that Jareth looks like Fai from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles with his eyepatch during the whole Dream arc. While perhaps not intentional by the artist (and the eyepatch having a good in-story explanation), it still makes perfect sense. Fai wore the eyepatch after his eye was eaten/plucked out/somehow consumed- basically, he couldn't do any magic after that. Likewise, Jareth was unable to perform magic the whole time whilst unaware of the dream, all the while wearing that thing.
- In a way I suppose. The main difference being that Jareth's magic was intentionally sealed by someone. Also the thought that physical anomalies are the indication of supernatural powers is really old as is the connection between magic and eyes.
- If we think about it Jareth's "faces" pretty much conform to the Id, Superego, & Ego trinity with a twist as Jareth isn't human:
- Dark!Jareth would be his Id, his instinct, his devil on the shoulder (The Fatalist and The Trickster as fae natures go).
- Mortal!Jareth his Super Ego, the one who he wants to be, the angel on his shoulder (Nice Guy)
- Jareth's normal personality is the Ego that tries to balance this whole mess out, with varying degree of success... but at least very stubbornly.
- The buildup to the Kings War arc also took a long time. Directly it dates back to at least page 305 which was published 1/2 year before... but the earliest references to the story as a living entity (which is part of the main plot of the arc) go back as far as page 150 (2 and 1/2 years earlier) or even page 137 (almost 3 years earlier).
Fridge Horror
- Jareth has power over time and space and in the Dark!Jareth arc he proved that he has a side capable of great evilnote ... If he ever gave in to that side our only hope for survival would be his hair color.
- Morgan... Oh dear gods Morgan. I know it's Played for Laughs but think about it what this would mean in a less self-aware world. To elaborate: So many people messed with her story that she effectively has a split-personality... Mental illness caused by being the plaything of alien "gods" from other dimensions.
- The why "Jareth loves Sarah" explanation this comic gives is not only tragic but also profoundly creepy if you think about it.
- Tragic (but not too Fridge worthy because it's pretty much acknowledged): Poor guy had to live his whole (and really long) life locked into despair and loneliness waiting for his special someone.
- Creepy: Poor girl was condemned to be stalked and harassed by a highly powerful and morally dubious supernatural being before she was even born.
- Creepy as Hell: And the whole thing happened because a young woman was nice to a really lonely little kid who got a Precocious Crush on her. So anything you ever do in this word (even the smallest and most innocent) can result in a chain of events that can make your life living hell. This is actually also Fridge Brilliance as it is perfectly in line with the traditional depiction of The Fair Folk that the comic uses.
- Even More Creepy (and strangely heartwarming): Turns out this was if not planned and orchestrated but at least manipulated by Jareth's father since at least before his divorce (when Jareth was just a kid) if not from the very beginning. He wanted his son to have friends and so access to The Power of Love and Friendship. and he is poor guy's better parent.
- The Recursive Reality of this comic postulates, that a world can be at the same time real for its inhabitants and fictional in an another one and there can be transit between mutually, recursively or partially fictional ones... so... is this world "real" or are we living in just another level of fictionality? Can the fourth wall protect us? Etc..
- This probably makes Roommates unique in it's level of not only Fridge Horror but Fridge Angst for the readers.
- This is also very subtly hinted at, with the Inception team treating the Buildingverse as a "[dream] level" in and of itself. The ending of Inception is a well-known Mind Screw - is the real world real or another dream level? - and it makes plenty of weird Fridge sense for the Buildingverse world and our world to be more dream levels...
- We ❤ Schrödinger's Butterfly!
